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The demolition of the sprawling refugee camp in Calais known as the “jungle” could start as early as this Monday, according to French interior minister Bernard Cazeneuve.

Hundreds of makeshift shops, houses and even a church will be torn down as part of a massive police operation to wipe out the camp for good and send its 10,000 inhabitants to smaller camps dotted around France.

Shop-owners have already been served with eviction notices, which were delivered on October 17.

The French government hopes to make its domestic refugee crisis more manageable by spreading out migrants in smaller communities across the country, as it says crime rates in the “jungle” have spiralled out of control.

It comes after the Home Office welcomed dozens of young refugees into Britain last week in an attempt to share the burden of the European refugee crisis, the worst of its kind since the Second World War.